Zachary Zatara[]
Zachary Zatara was the teenage nephew of sorcerer John Zatara. As a result of his lineage as well as a sudden influx of magical energy in the world, John developed mystical abilities such as summoning objects and changing the forms of other items. Like his uncle and cousin, Zatanna, Zachary's power was dependent upon speaking command words backwards. Zachary Zatara joined up with the California-based incarnation of the Teen Titans and developed a friendship with Kid Devil.
Zatanna[]
Zatanna is the first name of Zatanna Zatara, a costumed adventurer and magician. She is the daugther of John Zatara and the Homo-Maji woman, Sindella. Zatanna has the ability to cast magical effects, including affecting probability, controlling weather and the transmogrification of solid matter by speaking her commands backwards. Like her father, Zatanna never bothered maintaining a secret identity, preferring instead to trick the general public into thinking that she was nothing more than a very talented stage magician. Zatanna was a member of the original Justice League of America, during which time, she embarked upon an extended search for her mother, who had gone missing. She remained with the group throughout its initial duration, including the Detroit years. Zatanna was an associate of the JLA incarnation of the League and became a member of the Sentinels of Magic.
Zatara[]
Zatara was the surname and theatrical name of John Giovanni Zatara. Zatara was a mystic who could effect matter and probability by speaking lines of command backwards. Zatara did not maintain a secret identity as such, though the general populace regarded him as little more than a stage magician. John married a member of the Homo-Maji race named Sindella, and through her, gave birth to a daugther, Zatanna. Zatanna followed in her father's footsteps, both as a stage magician as well as an adventurer. John Zatara joined with other powerful mystics to stop the Great Evil Beast, which represented the darkness that existed before creation. Along with Sargon the Sorcerer, John Zatara perished during this event. Since then, John Zatara's spirit has been condemned to the afterlife.
Zor-El[]
Zor-El was a scientist from Argo City, late of the planet Krypton. He was the brother of Kryptonian scientist Jor-El and was married to Alura In-Ze. Zor-El and Alura had a daughter named Kara.
For a time, it was believed that Zor-El thought that Krypton was being devastated by a "phantom plague" and so he genetically altered Kara's biochemistry to enable her to defend herself against such threats. As such, Kara Zor-El developed powers even beyond that of a Kryptonian exposed to yellow solar radiation. It was also thought that Zor-El sent her to Earth to kill her cousin Kal-El, whom he suspected was also infected by this phantom plague. This was later revealed to be false, and was actually Kara's warped perceptions of her father caused by severe Kryptonite poisoning.
In fact, Zor-El was a very noble figure. Having migrated his friends and family to the bottled city of Kandor, Zor-El used technology from leftover Brainiac Probes to bolster the city's defenses. Zor-El along with thousands of Kandorians was eventually freed from Brainiac's ship and Kandor was returned to its normal size. It was situated in the North Pole, not far from Superman's Fortress of Solitude. [1]
Zor-El served as an ambassador for the surviving Kryptonians and attended a special summit in Washington, D.C. where he met American president Jonathan Horne. [2]
At this time, Washington was attacked by Superman's old adversary Doomday. Zor-El and several other Kandorians assisted Superman in fighting him. Attacking Doomsday en masse, they brought him to the moon where they finished him off, seemingly killing him.
Taking the attack to heart, Zor-El then began pumping Kara for information of Kal-El's most dangerous enemies. Zor authorized the Kandorians to capture the most dangerous of these and bring them to Kandor, where they would be placed within the Phantom Zone. When Superman found out, he confronted Zor, Alura, and Kara, as several Kryptonians used lethal force against guards and police officers to capture the criminals. Kara was horrified at the revelations, and Zor was both surprised and remorseful about the deaths. Zor-El was then shocked to learn that not only did Alura know about the deaths, she had authorized the Kryptonians to use lethal force if necessary. [3]
Shortly thereafter, Zor-El was in New Krypton when it was attacked by Metallo and Reactron, as well as dozens of Brainiac Probes. The villains possessed Kryptonite, which made the Kryptonians vulnerable to attack. Reactron stabbed Zor-El through the chest, killing him. Funeral services for Zor-El were held at the Fortress of Solitude and were preside over by his widow, Alura. [4][5]
A short time later, Zor-El was resurrected as a member of the Black Lantern Corps and emerged from his crypt on New Krypton. [6]
Zuggernaut[]
The Zuggernaut was an alien being that came to Earth and landed in Russia. It bonded its form to that of a criminal named Matvei Rodor, whereupon it evolved into a tall creature with an elongated cranium, a tough carapace and sharp claws. Guided by Rodor's emotions, the Zuggernaut attacked one of his rivals in Moscow named Soliony. The Zuggernaut fought up against Firestorm, who at this point in time was the merged essence of Ronnie Raymond and Mikhail Arkadin. Firestorm managed to drive the creature away and save Soliony. The Zuggernaut made a second attempt on Soliony's life, but this time it was repulsed by the superhero team, Soyuz.